Xbox to include ads in its video game
Xbox is having some pretty rough times lately. It’s hard not to feel sorry for Xbox.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) decision to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision was announced last month. Although the deal has not been canceled (Microsoft President Brad Smith confirmed the company would appeal the ruling), this is still a significant setback. In the meantime, Redfall – one of Microsoft’s highly anticipated games for 2023 – was finally released to… a very negative response. Yikes.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone UK, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for game creator experience and ecosystem at Xbox, Sarah Bond, revealed that she is experimenting to create more business model diversity, including the idea of including ads in games. Sarah Bond revealed in an Interview she did with Rolling Stone UK that Microsoft is currently experimenting to find new business models and has recently tested the idea of adding ads into games. Yikes.
Bond explained that they spend a great deal of time thinking about how to introduce more diversity in business models and how to create more choices. We talk about Game Pass a lot because it is the newest option we have scaled. First, there was pay-to-play, then free-to-play, and finally we launched Game Pass.
We’ve discussed how we are experimenting with different models. For example, what is the impact of advertising on games that are more common on mobile? Are there similar models that would work in a console or PC? She continued, “Are there any other models that you could use where timed segments of the game and such would be possible?” Giving creators options and choices allows them to do and experiment with what they want, creating a more immersive and creative experience without being forced to follow a set model.
We shouldn’t be too concerned about the in-game advertising, even though the company had been considering it. It could decide that this is not the best way to go, so there’s no need to worry. We can only hope that the ads in pay-to-play games will not be too frequent.
